Beijing Duck and city dust

So we arrived in sunny Beijing on the 16th and started the trip in a jetlag-haze. The original plan was to sleep like a baby and wake up refreshed in the Beijing morning, ready for first adventure. But instead we fell onto our hostel beds and slept until afternoon. The jetlag-haze probably also explains the decision to have bugs of an unknown origin as dessert the same evening. Flavor? Crunchy with a weird after taste, but then again everything tastes like chicken, right?

Once our brain started to work again we headed for the main sights. This being the Forbidden City and the Tian'anmen Square. It was very impressive and astonishing, as all the books had promised. Oh and btw, beware of the english speaking "arts students" around the entrance - do not follow them to see their artwork, knowing that you are not going to buy any. We made our first enemy by the second day!

By this day it was also evident that blond hair will make some people stop and point at you, even take pictures (one pathetic scarf will not cover a thing!). One lady at Tiananmen square even brought her husband to me and asked us to pose for her familyalbum. I am hoping that they might mix me with some famous athlete, since I am constantly wearing sports clothes!

Yesterday we had arranged a trip to the Great Wall of China. There are many different ways to go to the wall and we picked the route from Jin Shan Lin to Si Ma Tai which is about a 10km stretch of a treaturous wall climbing. Hardcore step-up aerobics I tell ya, but absolutely worth it. The hike is further away, but with less tourists and gorgeous breathtaking views. It is also common to be accompanied by some souvenir sellers from Mongolia which will try to help hikers in more dangerous spots hoping for a sale at the end. Some people (the other one :)) get really annoyed by this, however, I figured that a stack of post cards for 70 cents was a small price to pay for 5km and a helping hand.

Today we went to a couple of local parks with temples and pagodas. The most famous being the Beihai park with the majestic White Pagoda overlooking the city. At the top of the pagoda, there is a beautiful view of the entire Forbidden City. However, the view gets even more magnificent from the neighboring park called Jingshan - you can really see the size of the Forbidden city and the contrast between history and the modern buildings around it! After all this walking we ended the day with the classic Beijing Duck meal at a local joint. I have to say, the Lonely Planet phrase book has saved us from several tricky situations - everything we have eaten so far has been recognisable:)

Since the language problems are tricky, our hostel helped us to arrange train tickets to Xi'an on Monday. Before that we still have a few more days in Beijing, hoping to see the Summer palace and The Temple of Heaven before we go. It's definitely not a problem trying to find things to see in this huge metropolis!